End-play device for rotary machines.



No. 7|6,2|6. Patented Dec.- l6, I902.

H. GEISENHONER.

END PLAY DEVICE FOR ROTARY MACHINES.

(Application filed June 14, 1901.)

(No mm.)

01K Q h 5Q LL JTL Witnesses. In venTor:

i Henr Geisenhnet W 5 l kty.

UNiTEn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY GEISENHONER, OF SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

END-PLAY DEVICE FOR ROTARY MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 716,216, dated December 16, 1902. Application filed June 14, 1901. Serial No. 64.524. (No model.)

To all whom it may cmwern:

Be it known that I, HENRY GEIsENHoNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Schenectady, county of Schenectady, State of New York, have invented certain new and.

useful Improvements in End-PlayDevices for Rotary Machines, (Case No. 1,978,) of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means for regulating the end play of the movable elements of rotary machines, and particularly such types of machines as are apt to 'form tracks or grooves by reason of a constant maintenance of the same bearing-surface. There are difiiculties experienced from this source, particularly in electric machines, such as rotary converters or motor -generators, which are not belt-connected and which wear tracks or grooves in the commutators due to the tread of the brushes at the same point. There machines are belt-connected, this difliculty is not experienced, but in the types of machines mentioned the field-magnets produce a normal bias on the armatures, preventing any end play, and thus causing grooving of the commutators, which eventually results in sparking and faulty action of the machine. In a prior patent issued to me, No. 669,630, dated March 12, 1901, I described a mechanical means of preventing this grooving. My present invention relatesto improvements on the device shown in'the said patent. In accordance with these improvements I employ as a thrust-surface a cam which is engaged by the shaft when shifted under its bias toward one limit of its'motion, the cam being then operated to drive the shaft to the other limit of motion. I prefer to employ a disk or roller eccentrically pivoted on a'swinging axis movable in the plane of oscillation of the shaft. 1 provide for this movable axis an elastic cushion in which energy maybe stored during outward movement of the shaft and which by its rebound assists the eccentric in thrusting the shaft in an opposite direction. The eccentric disk may be mounted in such relation to the shaft as to give any desired speed of oscillation.

The novel features of the invention will be more particularly hereinafter described, and

will be definitely indicated in the claims appended'to the specification."v

In the accompanyingdrawings, which illustrate the invention, Figure 1 is a, sectional View of an end-play device embodying my improvements in operative relation to the shaft it controls. Fig. 2 is a face view of the cam or eccentric and its support. Fig. 3 is asectional detail showing the relation of field magnet and armature when the latter is shift ed outward against its normal bias.

1 may represent any suitable shaft to which it is desired to impart end playfor the purpose hereinafter described or other purposes which may be deemed necessary. On the end of the standard 2 in which the shaft is journaled I mount a1casting 3, upon which is pivoted an axle 4, on the free end of which is journaled a cam 5. This cam is an eccentrically-mounted disk or roller of steel cooperating with a hardened-steel plate 6, mounted in the end of the shaft to which end play is to be imparted. The roller is preferably mounted on ball bearings, as indicated. Bearing against the axle 4 is a thrust-pin 7, mounted in the casting 3, its outer end being guided in a hollow set-screw 8, a stout helical spring 9 being confined between a shoulder on the thrust-pin and the end of the set-screw.

By adjusting the set-screw any desired initial tension may be given to the spring 9. The axle 4 may be hung so as to bring the bearing-point the desired distance from the center of the shaft, and, as will be understood, the rate of oscillation of the shaft will accordingly be varied. This may be done by changing the location of the pivot 10 or making the axle longer. An adjusting-screw 11 determines the forward throw of the end-play device. Similarly the diameter of the disk 5 may be varied, producing a like effect.

The operation of the device is as follows: The normal bias by the field-magnet gives the shaft a drift, say, toward the right of Fig. 1. After having moved a certain distance it engages the edge of the roller 5 and gradually stores tension in the spring 9 in settling toward the limit of its biased movement, thus producing frictional engagement with the roller, which rotates the latter on its shaft.

The combined effect of the eccentricity of the roller and the spring overcomes its momentum and starts it on a backward course against the bias of the field-magnet, accumulating momentum in the armature, which thrusts it out of alinement with the field. This is indicated in an exaggerated Way in Fig. 3. The attraction of the field-magnet gradually overcomes the force of the thrust and returns it toward a central position, producing a new reengagement of the end of the shaft and the cam or eccentric. This cycle is repeated continually during the operation of the device, and end play is thereby effectively maintained.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. An end-play device for rotary machines comprising a rotary cam adapted to engage the revolving element at one limit of its end play, and a cushion cooperating with the cam to assist its lateral thrust on the movable element.

2. An end-play device for rotary machines comprising a yielding eccentrically-mounted thrust-roller cooperating with the rotary element, and an elastic cushion compressed by the roller when engaged by the rotary element.

3. An end-play device for rotary machines comprising an eccentrically-mounted roller in the path of movement of the shaft, a yielding axis on which the same is pivoted, and a spring adapted to be compressed by said axis.

-4. An end-play device for rotary machines comprising an eccentric roller opposite the end of the shaft journaled for movement in a plane parallel to the axis of the shaft, a pivoted support forsaid eccentric, and an adjustable spring for engaging said support.

5. The combination with a shaft having a normal endwise bias, of means for shifting it against such bias comprising an eccentric roller mounted on an elastically-yielding support.

6. An end-play device for rotary machines, comprising an eccentrically-journaled roller, a swinging arm on which the rolleris mounted, a support for the arm mounted on the journal of the movable part, and an elastic adjustable stop mounted on the support to give the latter a normal bias in one direction.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 11th day of June, 1901. HENRY GEISENHONER. Witnesses:

BENJAMIN B. HULL, lVIARGARET E. WOOLLEY. 

